Firms and Funds

Bain Capital has been sued for gender discrimination, by a former research librarian who claims she was mistreated after getting pregnant. The complaint was filed last Friday, and can be downloaded here. I always get a bit squeamish reporting on recently-filed lawsuits, because unrebutted allegations have a habit of sounding both factual and damning. For its part, Bain has released the following statement: "We believe these claims are entirely without merit. We strongly contest the plaintiff’s assertions, and will defend our position vigorously." I'll post Bain's legal response once it has been filed. In the meantime, onto the allegations:

Life sciences VC reaches first closing

A trio of former Aldus Equity executives, including firm co-founder Marcellus Taylor, have formed a new Dallas-based firm called LEA Advisors. None of the principals are talking yet, but word is that the firm will be a fund-of-funds and co-investment platform focused on emerging managers. Kind of a catch-22 strategy. On the one hand, there is an abundance of emerging managers trying to raise first-time funds (as Erin noted here), which means LEA would have great "dealflow." On the other hand, however, LEA itself is an emerging manager, which means it could have serious difficulty getting its cash together.

Newstone Capital Partners is targeting $900 million for its second fund, according to LBO Wire. The mezzanine fund has offices in Dallas and Los Angeles, and is run by former TCW/Crescent Mezzanine pros Tim Costello and John Rocchio. www.newstonecapital.com

Angelo Gordon & Co. is targeting $3 billion for its seventh distressed debt fund, according to LBO Wire. It closed its sixth fund just last year with $2 billion. www.angelogordon.com

HONG KONG (Reuters) – CDC Group, the British investment agency focusing on private businesses in developing countries, said on Wednesday it has agreed to commit a total of $40 million to two private equity funds in Southeast and Central Asia. The major investor in many well-known private equity funds, including U.K.’s Actis and China’s CDH, […]

Despite the difficulties facing first-time private equity funds in the market, it seems that plenty of ‘em are pushing ahead anyways, for better or for worse. Earlier today peHUB highlighted newcomer TZP Group, a lower-middle market investor named for a biblical reference. But there are many, many other new firms on the block, which I would like to highlight in a handy list. In the past six months, peHUB has reported on the following first-time funds:

Add one more to the list of first-time funds in the market. TPZ Group, a lower middle-market PE shop focused on business and consumer services companies. The New York-based firm recently made its first investment, sparking speculation that it it had held at least one close (i.e., saving it from fundraising purgatory). As it turns out, a source says that TPZ has held at least two closes toward an undisclosed target for an undisclosed amount. The anchor investor is a large university endowment. The firm's partners declined to comment on any details.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Sun Hung Kai Financial (0086.HK) on Friday said it was launching a $100 million fund that will partner with Paulson & Co and its distressed asset investment fund that focuses on financial companies. Sun Hung Kai said Paulson, run by legendary investor John Paulson who made billions of dollars betting against […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, majority owner of automaker Chrysler LLC, may cut about 10 percent of its worldwide staff, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday. The news was reported earlier by Financial News, citing people familiar with the situation. It follows similar cuts by […]